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Oakmont Regional High librarian eyes ditching Dewey Decimal System for new classification

By Michael Hartwell, mhartwell@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
02/13/2013 03:22:14 PM EST

ASHBURNHAM -- Books about homosexuality are on the same shelf as books on incest and prostitution.

Homer's "Iliad" is in the nonfiction section.

The works of Shakespeare and books on Elizabethan culture are nowhere near each other.

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"I think it's troubling," said Jeff Aubuchon, the librarian at Oakmont Regional High School. "I'm worried about the message that sends."

To solve the problem, and to improve the organization of the library's book collection, Aubuchon has decided to abandon the Dewey Decimal System. Instead, the library is creating its own classification system that Aubuchon said will bear a closer resemblance to how books are organized in a typical Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / BRETT CRAWFORD
The culture and institutions section in the library at Oakmont Regional High School in Ashburnham includes books on such disparate topics of slavery, indigenous people, homosexuality, transgender and incest, according to the Dewey Decimal System. Librarian Jeff Aubuchon wants to ditch the system in favor of a new one.

Under the "Spartan System," named for the school's mascot, the numbers stuck to the books' spines would be peeled off or covered with new color-coded topic labels. Books will be organized by the school's classroom subjects.

The Dewey Decimal System was invented by Melvil Dewey in 1873 and is reviewed for revision twice each year. Aubuchon said some of its 19th century ideas do not work in a 21st century school.

Aubuchon is looking to get $2,000 placed in next year's budget to create the Spartan System. Half the money would fund the s ystem, and the other half would pay workers to relabel and reposition the books during the summer of 2014.

Oakmont Principal David Uminski endorsed the plan and submitted it to the School Committee last week.

Aubuchon called the planned reorganization an intimidating process, but said it is in the best interest of the students. The new system would be for the high school only.

The Dewey Decimal System is still used in most public libraries. Nick Langhart, director of Forbush Memorial Library in Westminster, said he stands by the system despite its idiosyncrasies.

"Any system that we devise is going to create issues like that -- that's just the way human knowledge works," Langhart said. "The Dewey Decimal System was created in the 19th century, and human knowledge has expanded in some areas that would have been impossible for Dewey to have predicted."

One of the greatest advantages to using the Dewey Decimal System, said Langhart, is its uniformity.

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / BRETT CRAWFORD
Oakmont Regional High School Librarian Jeff Aubuchon looks through the library's stacks. Aubuchon wants to ditch the Dewey Decimal System in favor of a more updated classification system.

He said it helps traveling scholars find books easily.

"If I'm looking for a cookbook, I can go to any library in the country and I know to go to (section) 641 and find cookbooks," he said.

Sharon Bernard, chief librarian at Fitchburg Public Library, said the Dewey Decimal System works well for her library, calling it "as good as the cataloguer who uses it."

She said libraries have to make judgment calls when deciding where to place books. The library's cataloguer bases those decisions on the philosophies of the library.

For example, computer books in Fitchburg could be found in the business section before personal computers took off. When the Internet first came out, those books were placed in the news media section.

Joe Mulé, library director at Thayer Memorial Library in Lancaster, said the Dewey Decimal System is the result of "biases of the time."

He said Judeo-Christian books are given ample space in the religious section, while only a small amount of real estate is carved out for book on other religions. Still, Mulé said the Dewey Decimal System's specificity makes it easy to find obscure books.

"Bookstore models well for bookstores, generally speaking, because they're only going to keep what's selling," he said.

Oakmont would not be the first library to change the way it organizes its books. The Dover Town Library, in Dover, Mass., had a lot of success creating its own system, according to Aubuchon.

While Mulé said a new classification system could work for a school library, which have small collections, he said abandoning the Dewey Decimal System would not work for most public libraries.

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